Oil marked time near $106 a barrel Monday as traders navigated conflicting signals about the strength of future demand: slowing China growth and plunging U.S. fuel stockpiles. Benchmark crude for August delivery was up 3 cents at $105.98 a barrel at early afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract jumped $1.04 to $105.95 in New York on Friday, according to a report of the Associated Press. Brent crude was down 3 cents at $107.90 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London. In other energy futures trading on Nymex: - Wholesale gasoline was down 1.2 cents at $3.032 a gallon. - Heating oil slipped 0.1 cent to $3.03 a gallon. - Natural gas added 2.7 cents to $3.671 per 1,000 cubic feet.
